


Slowpoke

by d-ama-ien (ama_janee)



Category: A Heist With Markiplier (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Everyone is fine though don't worry, Fluff, Near Death Experiences, Other, Someday our new boys will have a real tag so i can stop tagging the real mark tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-02-01 02:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21335371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ama_janee/pseuds/d-ama-ien
Summary: After their Heist and subsequent adventure with Illinois, the reader decides to sell their gained treasures and take a well deserved vacation. After a small mishap, the reader ends up in a cave system that seems to hold some sort of temple inside it. By coincidence, the kind of ridiculous coincidence that only happens once in a life time, Illinois is adventuring in the same cave system. He invites the reader to join him on his current adventure and some feelings happen.
Relationships: Illinois (A Heist with Markiplier)/Reader, Mark Fischbach/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 122





	Slowpoke

After the remarkably eventful museum heist, I decided that I had earned a nice long vacation. I was grateful to make it through the heist and adventure with Illinois in one piece since (as far as I knew anyway) my partner hadn’t been so lucky. So, I decided to take our loot from some previous heists and my adventure with Illinois, make some sales on the black market, and use the money to go on a nice long vacation down on a tropical island. 

The island is perfect, incredibly expensive, so not very crowded, and everything from the hotels to the food to the activities was five-star quality. I spent most of my time lounging on the beach with a book, enjoying the relaxation of not being pursued by the government, since that was a luxury I didn’t have back home anymore.

One beautiful day, I decide to take a break from swimming to explore the beach a bit, so I grab my phone, wallet, and shoes and start walking along the shore. Time gets away from me as I enjoy the sights and sounds of the island, admiring the native flora and fauna as I continue down the coast. I walk for at least fifteen minutes, searching for seashells and cool rocks as I go, but when I check the time on my phone, I decided it would probably be best to turn around and start heading back towards the main beach.

Unfortunately for me, high tide had come in as I walked, and there was no longer a beach connecting me to my starting place. I sighed, disappointed in myself for having stopped paying attention to the ocean. I definitely should have noticed that the water was getting so high so quickly, it was way higher than it usually got at high tide. As I stared out over the ocean, I noticed the thick grey clouds building in the distance, and with how choppy the water was, it was clearly coming in quickly. I quickly realized I’ll be absolutely screwed if I stay out in the open with such a large storm coming in so fast, but to my great joy, I notice a cave entrance just a few dozen feet down the beach. I pull my shoes on, not wanting to step on anything sharp, and quickly make my way into the cave. I pull out my phone, turning the flashlight on to find my way deep enough into the cave that I’ll be sheltered from the incoming storm. I gasp in amazement as the cave becomes properly visible with the light of my phone. 

There are intricate paintings and carvings on the wall, some areas decorated with sparkling gemstones that seem to glow when the light hits them. I walk deeper into the cave as I admire the beautiful art, it seems to primarily be illustrations of things relating to the sea, makes sense considering the cave is right next to the ocean. I reach out to touch a particularly beautiful gem but am stopped when I hear someone call out to me.

“Whoa there, touching beautiful gemstones is a surefire way to set off a trap. No need to be afraid of those traps, though, I’m here now,”

My jaw drops when I hear that voice, I’d recognize the strange way of speaking and that cocky attitude anywhere.

“_Illinois_?” I question, as I turn to face the adventurer. It’s definitely him, I would never forget a face like his.

I’m pleased to see that he seems to recognize me, his face lighting up a bit as he starts to speak, “Oh, it’s you. I hadn’t expected to run into you ever again,”

“I could say the same to you,” I say with a slight laugh, “I would ask what brings you to this island, but I’m going to guess that it’s this cave,”

“That would be correct, as soon as I heard the rumors about this place I had to come to see it for myself. It really is beautiful, I’d even say it’s almost as beautiful as me,” Illinois’s lips quick as he compliments himself, it’s quite egotistical, but at least he has the looks to back up his self-absorption. “But I have to ask, what brings you here? You’re not really dressed in adventure appropriate attire,” 

“I’m on the island for vacation, I’m in this cave because I wandered too far and got stranded by high tide with a storm incoming. I came here for shelter, but then I found the carvings and paintings and decided to explore a bit,” I explain, only a little self-conscious of how Illinois’s eyes grazed my exposed body. Swimsuits aren’t exactly the attire of modesty, but his gaze was a bit more intense than that of the usual beachgoers.

“I knew you were an adventurer the moment I saw you; only a real adventurer would trudge through a cave in their swimwear. Since you’re already on the adventurous path, care to join me? I didn’t bring an assistant, and you were a great help last time we met,” I feel my heartbeat speed up at Illinois’s invitation, absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to adventure with him again. While a more logical and cynical part of my brain urged me to decline, recalling how our last trip left me alone and heartbroken in the monkey temple, the rest of my brain simply squealed in delight.

“You know, an adventure sounds lovely,” I’m a simple person, my crush asks me to trudge through a cave with unknown hazards, I say yes just to spend time with him. 

“Good on you, your adventuring spirit hasn’t changed a bit. Come on then, gotta keep up if we want to reach the center before sundown,” Illinois begins walking away before finishing his sentence, calling over his shoulder as I hurry to walk alongside him.

“I have to tell you, I don’t think any former assistants of mine have been willing to come on a second adventure before. If they survive, they’ve usually become too attached to me to stay professional,” Illinois lazily gestures as he talks, not even flinching as a jet of fire shoots out inches away from his fingers.

“Right, because they’re always falling in love with you,” I say, remembering that he said that was always the case.

“Of course. I am still single, so if you aren’t in love yet, I would keep it that way. The job always comes first,”

“Yeah, as it should,” I agree, trying to not let my face fall. It feels like Illinois is taunting me, saying he’s available for a relationship and then immediately crushing that hope with his dedication to his job.

“And distractions are such a risk in this field, one little slip-up and it’s another assistant killed by a boulder,” Illinois continues, and I flinch a bit as I recall Mark running away from that boulder. I have very little hope that he made it away from that thing alive.

I realize that I had seriously lagged behind Illinois, so I pick up the pace to get back in step with him. However, an uneven piece of ground has me freezing in place, looking down to confirm my fears. A pressure plate lowered in the earth below my foot. Illinois pauses, turning around as he asks, “Hey, slowpoke, you have to- run! You have to run!” Illinois shouts, sprinting towards me as the ground shakes, pieces of it crumbling away under my feet. My reaction time is too slow, the ground underneath me drops out. I hear Illinois shout as I begin to fall, only barely catching onto the ledge in front of me.

I don’t have a stable enough grip to pull myself up, I can’t help but scream as the ground I’m holding onto begins to crumble under my grip. I don’t want to die, but it seems like that’s inevitable at this point. Then, just as I begin to slip, I feel a strong grip around my arm, yanking me up before getting proper purchase under my armpits to pull me all the way onto solid ground.

I’m near hyperventilating as Illinois collapses back, pulling me down on top of him. I move to get off of him, try and calm down, but he moves his arms to wrap around me, holding him close to his chest.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it’s okay now, I have you, I have you,” I start to calm down as Illinois mutters repeated assurances, holding me tightly. It takes until I’m breathing normal, no longer crying over my imminent demise, to realize that it sounds like he’s reassuring himself instead of me. 

“Illinois,” I start to speak, but his muttered chant of “I have you” doesn’t even pause.

“Illinois!” I try again, louder and pulling back slowly, hoping the physical change will get him to snap out of it. He jumps when I move, pulling me back against his chest before suddenly tensing up and releasing me. I roll off of him, sitting in the dirt beside him as he sits up and gathers his bearings.

“I’m… sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting there to be any pressure based traps, so I didn’t even think to warn you,”

“Are you okay?” I question, noticing how he won’t meet my eyes.

“Me? Of course I’m okay, traps like that are a near-daily occurrence. That’s why I had to make sure you knew that I was looking out for you, so you wouldn’t be scared,” We both know it’s a lie as soon as he says it, and he heaves a deep sigh before standing and helping me up with him.

“You just seem really rattled, I thought losing assistants was a pretty normal occurrence,”

“Yes, but I didn’t want to lose you!” Illinois snaps at me before groaning and turning away. “I knew inviting you to join me would be a bad idea, this sort of situation is exactly what I was trying to avoid when I left you,”

“What?” I’m shocked by the admission, and by how serious he is. No self-aggrandizing compliments, no jokes about love, just a straightforward confession.

“That’s why I left instead of inviting you to be my assistant, I was already too attached and couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. I probably should’ve followed my own advice about not getting attached,”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t follow your advice either,” I say, reaching out to grab Illinois’s arm before he can walk away from me again.

He turns to me with a genuine smile on his face, the first time I’ve seen one from him. The smile is quickly replaced with a smug grin, though, as he says “I thought you’d fall in love with me,”

I sigh, shaking my head before pulling him close and kissing that smug smile off his face. 

“They always do,” he adds after pulling away, and it takes a great deal of self-control to just roll my eyes instead of smacking his arm.

“So, should we continue? You wanted to reach the center by sunset, right?”

“You just nearly died, and you already want to continue?” Illinois asks with a raised eyebrow. I absently shrug, that experience wasn’t the first time I had nearly died. It was probably the scariest, but you get used to recovering from near-death experiences after a while.

“I knew you were a real adventure,” Illinois says, tone and face overflowing with affection. “Let’s get going, and try to actually keep up this time, slowpoke.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check me out on tumblr, @d-ama-ien.


End file.
